1. Field of the Invention
This invention generally concerns gaming tokens such as disks or flat plaques integrating an electronic chip or an electronic identifier (indifferently called hereafter electronic identification device). The applications for this invention are to be found, amongst others, in the contactless identification of persons and objects also called electronic labelling and in the authentication, the identification and management (in particular the tracing and counting) of gaming tokens also called casino chips. The expression xe2x80x9cgaming tokenxe2x80x9d covers any token that can be used in a gaming room and representing a value that is predetermined or not. Gaming token are usually made of a rigid plastic material to obtain a structure that is solid enough to resist conditions of use in casinos which are often very tough.
2. Description of Background and Relevant Information
The patent application EP-A-0694872 in the name of the Applicant describes a gaming token or plaque the body of which integrating an electronic chip is made from laminated sheets of rolled plastic material. The electronic chip or electronic identifier includes an electronic circuit with a memory bearing identification and/or coding information concerning the person or object associated with the token (electronic label) or the token itself (gaming token or payment token), the electronic circuit generally being associated with an emitter-receiver connected to an antenna and adapted to be supplied by inductive coupling. The electronic chip is placed in the centre of an opening provided in the body of the plaque, protected and held on either side by two rigid pellets and finally made one and integrated into the body of the plaque by a lamination of top sheets of transparent cellulose acetate followed by the thermoforming of the whole.
The manufacturing process for the body of the plaque incorporating the electronic chip by laminating thin sheets of plastic material described in the above mentioned patent application is well adapted to highly decorated plaques and representing a high nominal value, usually manufactured in small or medium sized series. However, a good protection of the electronic chip when it is integrated into the body of the plaque requires a certain thickness (usually between 4 and 6 mm) so gaming tokens or plaques with a thickness of about 3 mm and equipped with an electronic chip are difficult to manufacture using this method with an excessive number of rejects resulting from the destruction of the chip.
Among the less expensive manufacturing methods for gaming plaques and tokens, the thermocompression method of a plastic compound in a mould giving the final shape of the token is known from the U.S. Pat. No. 3,968,582. As a variant, peripheral inserts of various colours are obtained by the partial elimination of the plastic compound around the token preform and replacement by inserts of a coloured material before the thermocompression operation. The tokens thus obtained, however, offer a poor visual quality decoration and do not include any electronic identifier.
One object of the invention is to propose a new manufacturing method for tokens with an electronic identifier, simple in structure, compact and robust, particularly for namely thin tokens, allowing easy and inexpensive manufacture suitable for mass production.
For this purpose, the invention proposes a gaming token or plaque or similar device, including a flat body with approximately parallel surfaces, made of plastic with a cavity in which an electronic identification device is placed, characterised in that the cavity offers at least one face opening closed by a plastic plug inserted into the cavity and made one directly with the flat body.
The structure of the gaming token or plaque according to the invention and in which the plastic plug is inserted into the cavity and made one directly with the plastic of the token makes the token very robust while reducing its thickness (by eliminating any superfluous layer of plastic). Furthermore, the simplification of their structure makes the tokens in accordance with the invention much more easy to manufacture. Preferably, in variants of the realisation of the invention plugs are used inserted with a minimum clearance in the face openings of the cavities having matching shapes and directly made one with the body of the token or plaque by gluing, welding (fusion/welding or ultrasonic welding) and/or mechanical interlocking, for example by deformation by heating and/or compression of the token body at and around the area of the surface opening of the cavity and fold down plastic material around the plug, preferably previously bevelled.
According to a one, embodiment of the invention, the plug, inserted into the cavity in a solid state, possibly softened or pasty, is deformed and welded to the body of the token by combined heating and pressure. As it is described in the rest of the disclosure, the heating of the body and/or token may take place before the pressure is applied and/or simultaneously with the application of the pressure depending on the plastics used, on the shapes of the items to be welded and the heating and press devices used.
Thus, the deformation capacity of the plug reduces the risks of deterioration of the electronic identifier while ensuring a very robust weld, most often with interlocking, at the level of the side wall of the cavity and a good cohesion between the token body thus completed and the electronic identifier. Preferably, the combined application of heating and pressure extends over the plug and over the two entire faces of the body, which generally allows a good surface aspect to be obtained at once on both faces of the token or plaque.
According to a first variant, the body has a through cavity closed by two plugs placed on either sides of the electronic identification device. This arrangement allows a better distribution of the stresses on the electronic identification device when the welding operation by combined heat and pressure is carried out.
According to another variant, the body offers a non-through cavity with a flat or stepped bottom intended to receive all or part of the electronic identification device and closed by a plug.
Preferably, the electronic identification device includes an electronic circuit having a memory containing information concerning the token, for example an identification code and an emitter-receiver with a peripheral antenna adapted to be supplied by inductive coupling, the whole being placed in a protective enclosure such as a thin film flat envelope, a protective shell made of rigid plastic or a hardened coating resin pellet, especially of the epoxy type. Preferably, the electronic identification device and the protective enclosure are in the form of a flat disk with a smaller diameter than the diameter of the cavity so that it can be fitted at least partly into the housing formed by the stepped bottom of the cavity.
According to another embodiment of the invention, the body and or the plug are each made of an identical or different thermoplastic material, loaded or not, and showing a vitreous transition temperature of between 40xc2x0 C. and 130xc2x0 C., preferably between 50xc2x0 C. and 100xc2x0 C.
As various variants of embodiments of the invention using bodies and plugs of thermoplastic material in general, the bodies and plugs are each made of a thermoplastic material, loaded or not, and belonging to one of the following families:
the styrenes and their copolymers, in particular PBS and ABS, the methacrylics, in particular PMMA, the vinyls in particular PVC and their copolymers, the celluloses, in particular cellulose acetate, the saturated polyesters, in particular PBT and the polyolefins, in particular PE hd and their copolymers.
According to yet another embodiment of the invention, the body and the plug are made of identical or different thermosetting plastic, loaded or not, namely a material belonging to the family of non-saturated polyesters.
Preferably, but as an option, the body and the plug for the last two embodiments of the invention presented above are made of plastic materials having the same basic polymer, so as to facilitate in particular the welding between the body and the plug, or of plastic material compatible with the welding.
The invention also concerns a method of manufacturing a gaming token or plaque or similar device, hereinafter indifferently called token, with a thermoplastic body, including the following operations:
manufacturing by groups or by unit, of the thermoplastic token body,
making of a cavity in the body having at least one face opening,
making in the cavity of the electronic identification device and insertion of a plug, in each face opening,
closing of the cavity by welding of the plug(s) with the token body previously heated, in particular and around the area of each opening by applying pressure to the heated area(s),
as an option, cutting of the contour of the token body and/or finishing of the edge of the token if necessary.
The invention also concerns a method of manufacturing a gaming token or plaque or similar device, hereinafter indifferently called token, with a thermosetting body, characterised in that it includes the following operations:
manufacturing of a preform of the token body in a thermosetting plastic material,
making of a cavity in the preform having at least one face opening,
placing of the electronic identification device in the cavity and insertion of a plug, in each face opening,
placing in a mould of the whole composed of the preform of the token body equipped with the electronic identification device and plug(s),
making of the token body by thermocompression of the whole and closing of the cavity in the token body.
It should also be noted that the invention is not limited to gaming tokens and plaques, but also concerns similar devices equipped with an electronic chip and having similar shapes and structures, in particular fixed amount prepaid tokens and electronic payment tokens, electronic labels, plaques or electronic identification cards and it should also be noted that electronic identification may sometimes be limited to a simple authentication of the electronic chip, i.e. the recognition of the presence of the chip by the associated contactless reader (radio-frequency reader also called RFID reader) for electronic transaction (read and/or write).
Other objects, characteristics and advantages of the present invention will appear on reading the following description of various embodiments of the invention including methods of manufacturing therefor and given as non restricting examples in reference to the attached drawings.